14

Sep

Residents to be fined for burning plastic waste at Benaulim

BENAULIM
The Benaulim Village Panchayat in a bid to reduce cases of dumping and burning of plastic have undertaken a number of steps which include imposing fines and organising awareness meetings with stakeholders.
Speaking to this daily, Benaulim sarpanch Diella Fernandes said, “The panchayat has been receiving many complaints from residents about burning of plastic waste around their homes. Many times, people bury plastic in dried leaves or paper and burn it. To stop this practice we have recently started fining people Rs 5,000 if found burning plastic in the village.
To implement this fine, anyone in the village, whether a local or an outsider can take a picture or video of the burning pile and send the same to the panchayat office.
The sarpanch further said that as a means to stop dumping of garbage on the roadside the panchayat has called for a special meeting of stakeholders.
“We will be starting ward wise awareness meetings with tenants and those living in buildings and rented apartments asking them to give their dry waste to panchayat garbage collectors instead of dumping it around the village” said Fernandes.
An official from the Goa Solid Waste Management Corporation has agreed to coordinate the meeting with stakeholders.